very true, but my problem is with the fact that the energy weapons look so unwieldy that noone in their right mind would use one over a regular gun that you can actually hold firmly and aim with.

So, people shouldnt use energy weapons based on what they appear to be like, ergonomically? I havent even held an actual laser rifle, so i can't tell you how one would feel in my hands and if youre right or not.

Energy weapons do better against robots. The shot should be able to travel further than a bullet without drop. The ammo doesn't weigh as much. These are reasons to use energy weapons and reasons that some may use them even if they are less intuitive than ballistic weapons.

Out of all the sci fi examples i have seen as far as hand held energy weapons, fallout energy weapons dont seem to deviate too far from the norm.

what i'm trying to say is that they should look more like actual weapons, not boxes or toys.

But thats kinda silly. youre saying that a fictional weapon should look like a real world weapon.
I cannot think of a single sci fi example in any medium that a laser pistol or rifle doesnt look like its a fictional weapon.
For the most part its becaue they are fictional weapons. they are supposed to look "futuristic" and the way people usually achieve that is by making something look different than whatever contemporary thing it is attempting to be a future rendition of
Imagine, if all ballistic guns still looked like dueling pistols and muzzle loaders will bell shaped barrels

A laser rifle that looked like a m-14 would be kinda lame if you ask me.

I agree with what others have said. In Fallout and Fallout 2 energy weapons were rare and powerful and lookd good. But then Bethesda decided to have energy weapons throughout the wasteland making them common. Like PA Bethesda had to nerf them to not make them game breakers. New Vegas couldn't just make energy weapons rare again because people would have hit the roof.

Like PA I hope the become rare and more like they are in the originals for future games. Take the amount of energy weapons in Fallout New Vegas and cut it be half, unless you have a faction like the Van Graffs making energy weapons to explain the increase.

I'm not a fan of the plasma rifle in Fallout 1 and 2, but the laser rifle and laser pistol look a lot better. The plasma pistol is alright.

still, i believe the artists could have done a better job at making them look useable in an actual combat scenario.

I think it's cause the rifle uses electro-magnetism to propel a projectile.
Even if the projectile isn't "energy" the propulsion is.

they look unwieldy and silly because they're supposed to look like a 50s b movie. If your asking about realizism whats the point of a laser gun that doesn't shoot a contenous beam, also why can you see the laser as it travels? Wouldn't laser weapons be instantaneous

Well, it's SCIENCE! not science.
Even if their functionaly seems really unrealistic they should still look like weapons, not pieces of junk taped together.

Thats actually more like it was in the originals. Laser weapons had bigger magazines but did lower damage then plasma weapons. Plasma weapons had small maginzes but did more damage. While the yuma Flats Electrical ones had the worst energy energy consumption but did lotz of damage because little armor protected against it.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Laser_rifle_%28Fallout%29
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Plasma_rifle_%28Fallout%29
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/YK42B_pulse_rifle_%28Fallout_2%29

take note on the effective ranges and damage on those weapons. Laser rifle has a wopping 45 before yo uget range penalties, while the plasma rifle is only at 25 and pulse is at 30.

I liked the look of the wattz laser weapons more personally as well as a p94 plasma weapon.

Gauss rifle (the M72 atleast) wasn't a energy weapon in the originals it was the top tier rifle for small guns. Since it functions the same way as normal guns (slug thrower) I think it should have stayed in the guns category. They should have just brought back the Yuma Flats pulse rifle and pistol for top tier energy weapons.

Just change the models if you don't like them.
Besides, how do they work? I mean of course Energy Weapons.
Miniaturisation was starting to appear 10 years before the bombs fell and they managed to create small cells with pure energy and weapons to use them? What about robots? I know there were Commonwealths but come on.
And AI? Protectrons, advanced mainframes like one with President Eden and so on - it all required miniaturisation which was rare.

in the old game (except from the alien pistol) laser rifle was THE best gun in game, just stand at max range and snipe eye or groin.



A laser beam is the most accurate we have to day in all classes...


Because they are,:

A coilgun is a type of projectile accelerator that consists of one or more coils used as electromagnets in the configuration of a synchronous linear motor which accelerate a magnetic projectile to high velocity. The name Gauss gun is sometimes used for such devices in reference to Carl Friedrich Gauss, who formulated mathematical descriptions of the magnetic effect used by magnetic accelerators.
Coilguns consist of one or more coils arranged along a barrel. The coils are switched on and off in sequence, causing the projectile to be accelerated quickly along the barrel via magnetic forces. Coilguns are distinct from railguns, which pass a large current through the projectile or sabot via sliding contacts. Coilguns and railguns also operate on different principles. The first operational coilgun was developed and patented by Norwegian physicist Kristian Birkeland.
In 1934 an American inventor developed a machine gun similar in concept to the coilgun. Except for a photo in a few publications, very little is known about it.

I'd say that Turbo Plasma Rifle is better, since you can just about one shot everything, including deathclaws.

"There is nothing like the feel of a warm laser in your hands."

The Lazer rifle was NOT the best gun in the game.... in fallout 2 is was near useless in the ending.. Advanced Power Armor was 90% resistant top lazers.... in both Fallout games the best weapon imo was the Turbo Charged Plasma Rifle with Bonus rate of fire...and fast shot.

ive always had a nagging sensation in my brain whenever i fired the plasma rifle in fallout - 'plasma' should be blue as that is the colour emitted when atoms become charged with excess energy (see the special features section of the film 'watchmen', it explains this while justifying Dr manhattan's colour) i also think that the laser rifles should have a green beam as that is the most visible type of laser - much better for targeting purposes!

and now i leave.....

I think they did that so you could make and EW char from the get go. I don't think you can make a EW focused char (from the beginning) in FO1 and not struggle immensly unless you know where to go or have a high luck char.

The Van Graffs And The Gun Runners Actively Manufacture Them ?

This aassumes that the only qualifier for an energy weapon being an energy weapon is that the projectile is made of energy. If you want to get technical, mass is condensed energy, but i digress.........
One could aslo concieve that what makes an energy weapon an energy weapon is the very means of propulsion!

Most small arms use the same method of propulsion. A pin that stikes a primer which causes gunpowerder to explode in a controlled manner, which forces a projectile. Of course there are compressed gas weapons, but they arent hardly as lethal and are mostly used as toys or for hunting small animals- those would be considered pneumatic weapons.. I am unsure if they just lump the BB Gun in with small arms in Fallout, but it would make sense, rather than make a whole weapons skill class.

A Gauss rifle/coil gun/ rail gun is different in that it uses energy to move the projectile. You do not need to know anyting about electicity in order to make a gun work, do you? But without electricity, yo would be hard pressed to find a nartual magnetic force strong enough to push a projectile to the point of it being dangerous to anyone. Thus it is an energy weapon. I think the rule of thumb here is that really anything that uses energy based on atomic or sub atomic particles for either propulsion or as the projectile is an energy weapon. I believe balliistics use molecular based energy, no? But that may even be slightly off.

wait... explosions are not considered a release of energy anymore?!

jokes aside, gauss rifles should technically benefit from both skills, guns and energy weapons.

Please read where i differentiate the two based on molecular/chemical energy vs. atomic/sub atomic particle energy. Standard arms have relied on powder, which is what makes them their own class. Relying on something that isnt a chemical change is a different way of doing things. Electomagnetism may not fit into the fusion or fission catergory, but is based on a frequency of photons, much like a laser.

Or if you perfer we can go to the full other end of the spectrum, where I mention that absolutely everything is tehcnically energy, if you want to just call everything energy. Could you imagine, saying, "Energy's energy energied when i energied energy in the enrgy with energy. And wouldnt energy know, energy was energized all over the energy!" Or would that not really clarify what I was talking about?

I always judged it on the state of the projectile. Energy weapons emitter energy beams guns are solid slug throwers, it doesn't matter how it's thrown they work in a similar manner. hit something with a solid chunk of something else, so are effected by Ballistics. Energy weapons Are not ballistic weapons but direct fire energy beams/energy bolts.

I say we pose it to the devs.
Are FO energy weapons based on the type of reaction or the type of projectile.
Unfortunately the skills arent for Kinetic Energy Weapons and Direct Energy Weapons.
If we take that standpoint, I guess youre right.

Though I can see how it might be the mechanism that makes it all work as the deciding factor, too.
Cumbustion and elecrical motors do the same thing, very differently.
In an electric motor, you would store the raw energy which will turn the rotors and stators.
With combustion, though, you store a molecular blend that you break down and then use the byproduct energy to move the pistons.

Lets ask Mr Qwl.

the more one thinks about it, the less the "energy weapons" skill makes sense, they should just remove it and place the laser/ plasma/ etc.. weapons with small guns and big guns.
atleast this makes more sense than fusing small guns and big guns.